The Dividing Line
by Drakky28293
Summary: Sora and Yamato befriend each other when Yamato moves to Odaiba and joins Heisho Academy but their relationship is always a tad rocky. Will they ever see what their true feelings are?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon or any of it's characters.

**AN: **You guys out there are undoubtedly the best fans I have seen. Sticking by me so staunchly. Anyway, after a tremendous bout of writers' block, I AM BACK. I am re publishing TDL with some changes. So, the gist of this new and improved story is- Sora meets Yamato when he joins Heisho Academy. They become fast friends. And neither of them is able to see that they are soul mates. Like every true friendship, they face their fair share of problems (actually more than their fair share- they're forever bickering), brought on by Yamato, who has serious attitude issues. They quarrel often, which irks Sora, but she never lets go of Yamato, for reasons even she doesn't understand. And will they finally understand the weird bond that holds them together? Read on to know. Please review, as your feedback helps me improve on my writing. It's a true Sorato at heart. The fic may feature MiChi later, but I'm not sure.

**PS:** This fanfic is dedicated to a very special guy in my life who's given me the inspiration for this story. I cant take his name as he doesn't want to be publicized on the internet! Our story's a lot similar, it's just that ours isn't a love story. Here's to the Yamato Ishida of my life!

**THE DIVIDING LINE**

**CHAPTER I**

**-Sora's P.O.V-**

My feet were tapping impatiently as I waited outside the mall for my best friend Mimi. Well, I say 'best friend', although I seriously doubt it sometimes, like now, because she really drives me up the wall. We're not in the least alike. She loves cruising the mall, looking for hot sales bargains and hotter boys. Me? I prefer my males on the field. I'm the sports nut, and I care two hoots for fashion. The shorts and T-shirt I wore were testament to that, both being extremely baggy but nice and comfy. Soccer is my passion, although I've recently taken up tennis as well, and I find both to be the best kind of stress busters for me.

There was still no sign of Meems, as I affectionately call her, and I distracted myself by reading the sports news from a newsvendor, who stands with a cart near the mall. The frantic clicking of heels behind me alerted me to the arrival of my friend. Only Mimi Tachikawa could have mastered the art of running a marathon around the mall in three-inch heels I thought with a smirk as I turned to face her.

Sure enough, there was no mistaking Mimi. Dressed in a mini skirt and a halter, which I knew I'd find in the pages of some or the other fashion magazine, fishnet stockings, black nail paint and heels, Mimi stood before me, panting slightly, carrying at least seven bags in each hand. Her long, luxuriant brown hair now had streaks of pink, which it definitely didn't have three hours ago when I last saw her. But her smile was more than familiar to me; my friend had something to say.

"I'm sooooooo sorry Sora!" she trilled in a high soprano, dragging out the 'sooooooo' for five seconds. "But you wont believe this hunk I met today in the café! And I bumped into him and he was so gentlemanly about it! And he bought me a latte and I have another date with him day after!" she prattled off in one breath.

I took some of the bags from her and said, "Calm down hon, and say it from the start. And go a little more slowly, you ain't goin' to catch a train are you?"

"See… I wanted to grab a quick bite and I went to this café and there was this gorgeous guy! Raven hair, the most hunky figure you'll ever come across and a voice that could make anyone swoon. I really wasn't looking where I was going and…" Mimi droned on and on and on and I listened a little half-heartedly, uttering a small "Cool!" and "Uh huh" now and then.

We walked towards our favourite fast food joint, Hang Out (AN: I dunno if there really is a place by this name, but I don't own it!) just near Heisho Academy, which we attend.

Just as we were across the road from Hang Out, Mimi said, "And I have his number…" she trailed off with a look of horror on her face, her manicured fingers clutching her cell phone.

"Meems, what is it?" I asked, looking at her anxiously. "Something wrong with your phone?"

"Let's not go to Hang Out today," she said, very firmly.

"Meems! I'm hungry!" I said, exasperated. Ok, let me get this straight. My friend has a quick bite and cuppa with the guy of her dreams and she's not letting me satisfy MY hunger. Some best friend she is!

"I swear, I will pay for your meal, anywhere you wanna go, just not THERE!" she said, her voice becoming shrill and a slightly hysterical look in her eyes.

"Fine… You wait on this side of the road and I'll grab a to-go something. And you don't need to pay for it. Just wait till I come back!" I said, taking out my wallet and crossing the road.

"Sora no!" she was yelling but I was already half way there. It seemed really weird how she didn't want me to go there.

At first glance the place looked empty. But then I saw one guy talking to his friend, who worked there. Funny, I'd never seen either of them before. Maybe they were new to Odaiba.

"Welcome to Hang Out, the best place for you to…" the guy at the counter began but I had heard this spiel a gazillion times before.

"… hang out with friends and family," I completed his sentence. "I practically live here buddy. I'm your most regular regular!" I grinned at him.

"Great! But I'm new here so I don't know your regular order. You'll have to tell me." he said, giving me a smile. He looked like a nice guy, with really friendly, warm, brown eyes, although his wild, brown bushy hair was pretty scary. I wondered if that bush on top of his skull had ever met a comb or a pair of scissors. He was wearing the standard Hang Out uniform, a white apron with green piping. Hang Out has seriously cheesy nametags. They're nauseatingly sweet with an extra adorable smiley face saying, "Hi, I'm _, how may I help you?" The blank space on this guy's nametag read TaiChi.

"It's not gonna make a difference today TaiChi," I said. "I gotta take my order to-go. So, it'll be root beer and chicken sandwiches. I'm Sora, by the way," I extended my hand.

"Comin' up!" he sang. He shook my hand briefly and went to the kitchen. Meanwhile the other guy swung around to face me and for a second, I was struck dumb.

This guy was like the polar opposite of TaiChi. Cold blue eyes that made one think that snuggling up with a glacier on a winter's day would be warmer. Blonde hair, immaculately styled with what must have been a really obscene amount of hair gel. A mouth that indicated that he spent more time frowning than smiling, unlike TaiChi, who had a permanent, goofy smile plastered to his face. A nice, lean figure and great clothes. Wait a minute, why was I checking out this guy's clothes and figure? I looked demurely away and drummed my fingers on the countertop, waiting for TaiChi to get my sandwich.

"Here you go Sora," he came out and gave me a parcel. I handed him some cash and said, "Keep the change!"

"Whoa… Thanks a ton! Hey, Sora, meet my longtime buddy, Yamato Ishida," he said, pointing to Mr. Icy Glare next to me.

"Hey," he said, in a wonderful baritone, smiling for, like a millisecond. That was time enough. His face was COMPLETELY transformed and he looked like a million dollars. Now THAT was a face worth checking the figure out for. If only the smile had a longer shelf life.

"Hi," I said, taking a swig of my root beer. "I'll see you around TaiChi!" I called over my back as I went out of the place.

"Ok, I am back from Hang Out, and since I haven't picked up anything contagious, I'd really like it if you explained why you were so against me going there in the first place," I said, as I rejoined Mimi, who was looking very disapprovingly at me.

"Want a bite?" I mumbled through a mouthful of chicken and cheese, waving my sandwich in front of Mimi's nose.

"No thanks… I'll have to reapply my lip gloss," she wrinkled her nose a little bit as she saw how I was scarfing my snack in a very un-lady-like way.

"So, Meems, what is your problem with that place?" I said, washing down my sandwich with some root beer and unwrapping the second one.

"Didn't you see those two guys there? Especially the blonde one," she said, very pointedly. I noticed she said the word 'blonde' with an expression that indicated she had stepped in dog poo or something.

"Well, they're new in town and already amidst a mini-scandal," she said.

"What kind of a mini-scandal?" I asked. This seemed interesting. "Hey, wanna come over to the shop? I gotta take over from Mum so that she can go home." My mother is a florist, and a successful one at that. We have a huge shop at the square. As for my dad, well let's just say that I don't know anything about him. He passed away when I was young and I barely remember him.

"Sure" Mimi said. She had that superior look on her face and I knew that if I didn't stop her, she'd go on about how it pays to pay attention to gossip and I'd never know the present situation.

"Lecture later Meems, tell me about Mr. Ishida NOW!" I said.

"Oh, see, now you'll also soon be within his spell!" she said, aghast at the fact that I knew his name.

"Huh? What spell?" I said, completely in the dark.

"He's a total lady-killer with those brooding looks of his. He's left a string of broken hearts in Kyoto and I don't think that this particular leopard has changed his spots!" she declared decisively.

"Brooding good looks?! Ha! You wish! That cold stare of his makes you wish for a jacket!" I said as I pushed open the door to the shop.

"Sora! Thank goodness! Today was a really weary day!" my mother exclaimed, coming forward to give me a hug.

"Hey there Mum," I said, returning the hug. "Go on home; I'll be there by nine."

"See you at dinner honey," she said, picking up her car keys. Mimi and my mum exchanged 'hello's' and my mum went out.

"But still! Think of the depravity of it! Yamato Ishida seems like a person who has NO morals whatsoever. Pompous jerk," she muttered.

"Ssshhh…" I said. "You shouldn't be too hasty. For all you know, he might turn out to be a nice guy." I said, pruning out some carnations for a lady who had asked for a dozen.

"There! See! You're under the spell too! That's it! I cant stay in these conditions anymore! I am going home!" Mimi threw her hands up in the air. She picked up her umpteen shopping bags and headed out.

"Take a cold shower Sor," she said, over her shoulder and hailed a cab to go home.

I shook my head, well acquainted with her moods.

"Very melodramatic," observed my customer.

"She watches a tad too many soaps," I said, wrapping up her flowers in a tissue.

"Mmmmm," she said, as she paid me.

When the woman left, I turned to the mirror my mum had put in the store. I brushed back my long, auburn hair and thought of what Meems had said. Lady-killer? Nah, he looked more like he was suffering from some really heavy-duty misery. I swore that I would find out the truth about Yamato, even if it was the last thing I'd do.

**AN: **And that's chapter one people! Please let me know what you think through your reviews! Till then, as I always say, take care everybody!

~Drakky28293~


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon or any of it's characters!

**AN:** Hello again readers! A word of advice to Koumi-Loc… Go flame someone else! My story doesn't have any Koumi! It's gonna be a Michi! Either reconcile to that or just don't read! You have no right to call my chapter 'bs'. Now on with the story! This chapter is an entire recollection of the previous chapter through Yamato's eyes. And also the explanation of why his smile has such a short shelf life. :D Hope you like it! Don't forget to leave behind some reviews!

**THE DIVIDING LINE**

**CHAPTER II**

**-Yamato's P.O.V.-**

"Earth to Matt, earth to Matt, come in Matt!" I heard my friend TaiChi say. He's abbreviated my name to Matt. Not a name that I'm happy with, but it'll do, considering all the weird names my buddy comes up for all his friends.

"Huh? What is it dude?" I said, glancing up to look at my friend.

"Stop worrying about the past Matt, what's done is done," he said, with a sympathetic look in his eyes.

"Hmmmm… You're right Tai," I said. "But I shudder to think what might happen to TK now. He'll have to live with this huge emotional scar all his life." I said, thinking of my brother, Takeru, who was only eight.

"He's still a kid, it wont make much of an impression on him. You gotta let go Yamato," TaiChi said, resting his hand on my shoulder.

I've recently moved to the city of Odaiba from Kyoto, where I used to live with my parents. My parents had a really rocky marriage that culminated into divorce a couple of months back. I chose to live with my dad so that my brother could spend his childhood years with mom. Frankly speaking, their separation tore me apart and if it weren't for TaiChi and his parents, I'd have taken some really stupid step. Tai's dad recently got transferred here, to Odaiba. Dad thought it'll do me some good if we got away from mom and TK so he applied for a transfer too. Maybe it's for the best, 'cos Tai's with me here. And I'm trying to forget my dysfunctional family and concentrate on my new life in Odaiba.

"Think of school Matt!" Tai enthused, breaking into my thoughts again.

"Yeah, whatever," I mumbled. We were at Hang Out, a fast food joint where Tai had recently got a new part time job. At least one of us had their life on track, what with financial security and academics to reassure them.

Just then, the door opened and a girl came in. I didn't bother to turn, just checked her out in the mirror that hung behind the counter. Ok-ok looking, with long, vivid red hair and crimson yes. Nice voice too. Her name was Sora. Wait, that rang a bell. I had seen this girl somewhere. Oh yeah, she had won some tennis tournament in Kyoto two months ago. That was the last time Mum, Dad, my brother and I had gone out together. They told us about their divorce just three days after that. Seeing this girl here was bringing back all the memories. For a moment, I lost track of the conversation, remembering happier times I had spent with my family. Tai's and Sora's incessant chatter cut into my thoughts. I listened to their conversation. She was saying something about being a regular. Damn, that meant she'd be here all the time. I turned around to take a better look at the chick. Sora, I repeated the name to myself. Why would someone name her Sky? Fire would have been a better name, with that fiery hair of hers. Why am I even bothered? Her name is her business.

Tai introduced her to me. I gave her a smile. She didn't. Obviously, like 99.9% of the female population she was probably under the impression that I'm a snob. Let her believe what she wants to. She took a swig of root beer and went out.

"So, dude, what you think of the game Odaiba has to offer?" TaiChi said, after Sora had gone.

"Game?" I raised an eyebrow quizzically.

"No better distraction than pretty girls," he shrugged.

"Please… You found her pretty? Give me a break!" I said. She seemed like a complete nobody to me; chattering away nineteen to the dozen like that. In fact, if it weren't for that hair of hers, she would be invisible in any crowd.

"I shall forgive your grave mistake this once, pal, 'cos I know you're still upset," TaiChi said in a condescending voice that I hated. He patted my shoulder like I was a retard or something. And he continued talking to me like I was two, "Yes, sometimes the mind might be clouded when a person has suffered great misery, and I think that it's the only explanation for you r behaviour today." He gave me a wink and went to change out of his apron. His shift was over.

Was TaiChi serious? Never… That guy never took anything seriously in life. And even if he had found something alluring in that girl, I didn't care, she could rot in hell for all I knew. All I knew was that, my life was the pits now. I was sixteen, my parents had separated, my brother was miserable, and my best friend probably needed glasses, drooling over losers of girls.

"Let's go Yamato," my friend in question came out and went towards the door of the place.

"Yeah, lets go," I said, following him and trying to leave my miseries behind. Unfortunately, miseries never leave you. They follow you like eager stray dogs follow butchers. And these dogs were particularly ravenous.

**AN:** Sooooooo…. How was it? Liked it? Loved it? Hated it? You have to let me know! So please, please, please review! Yes, I know it was a short chapter, but it's all about quality and not quantity. Anyway, you all go review, and I shall soon be back with chapter three. Till then, as I always say, take care everybody!

~Drakky28293~


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Digimon or any of it's characters!

**AN**: Alright now boys and girls, there's only so much I can stand without losing my patience! You cannot just start cussing because I have not featured your favorite couple! All verbally shocking reviews, will be removed, I kid you not. You don't wanna get me mad. _SoratoFTW_ here is my update for you! Enjoy chapter three, with a short summary of their first day in school, and the first tentative step to friendship. Please review and tell me what you think!

**The Dividing Line**

**CHAPTER III**

**-Sora's P.O.V-**

"Man, I cant believe school's already begun," I said, as Meems and I walked to Heisho Academy. "The summer just flew!"

"Tell me about it," Mimi replied, checking her makeup in the mirror she always carried in her pocket. She shut the tiny mirror with a snap and looked disdainfully down at the uniform, "The management really couldn't do anything about our uniforms now, could they? It is just so drab and so 1990!" She sighed dramatically, and I could see that wearing a uniform all day in school who's fashion didn't belong to this decade was seriously depressing her. I had to hide a grin. Our uniforms aren't that bad actually. A white, button down shirt, short green-and-red checked skirts that reminded me of Scottish kilts and black blazers. Black stockings and shoes completed our ensemble. I didn't have too much of a problem, since I don't care which fashion decade the uniform belongs to, but I wish we had shorts. I vehemently dislike skirts.

"Cheer up Meems! You'll get used to it," I said consolingly.

"I will never get used to it, but I might was well cheer up. I have no intention of letting wrinkles get the better of me," she said, brightening up and running her fingers across her forehead, to smooth out any supposed wrinkles.

I refrained from telling her that one doesn't get wrinkles at the age of sixteen, knowing that she'd never agree even if I did tell her. Meanwhile, we had reached school. There were plenty of guys and girls milling around the front gate. I greeted several of my soccer buddies and tennis partners. Mimi waved out daintily at her cheerleading squad. I went ahead and thumped all my guy friends on their backs. The boys' uniform was different from ours. The white button down shirt was the same, but they had a single breast pocket with the words 'H.A.' elaborately worked on it. They wore black trousers and the same blazer.

The bell rang out and all of us scrambled for assembly. Suddenly I heard Mimi groan behind me.

"What? What is it? Are you ill? Did you forget something? Broke a nail?" I turned around and looked at her worriedly.

"He's joined Heisho!" she said through gritted teeth.

"Who he?" I asked, completely in the dark.

"Mr. Womanizer," she said scornfully, jerking her head towards the boys' line. I followed her glance to see an unmistakable mop of bushy brown hair, followed by a perfectly styled blonde crop. Well, well, well. Mr. My-Life-Sucks-Hard-Cos-I-Have-Numerous-Unsolved-Complications was in Heisho Academy too.

"Relax Meems, take no notice," I whispered as the morning prayers began.

She gave a very undignified snort which made several heads glance our way. That ended our little conversation.

Later as we were entering our classroom, I happened to see the class list taped to the door. Mimi also did the same. One particular name on our class list did nothing to raise her spirits.

**Sora Takenouchi**

**09- Mimi Tachikawa**

**12- Yamato Ishida**

**16- TaiChi Yagami**

Awww… Why was I roll number one? Not fair! I will never understand the criteria on which Odaiba High decides our roll numbers. I was twelve last year, which was a pretty safe number. Being one meant you were first in line for orals and practical examinations. The teachers collected your paper first when the bell rang. You can never squeeze in those vital, last-minute scribbles! Darn it, this year will kill me! Not to mention, Mimi's nemesis was three roll numbers ahead of her. So they'd be together for assignments and group projects. This would mean more moaning and groaning by Meems. This meant bigger headaches for me. For someone so knowledgeable on etiquette, Mimi was really quite dim when it came to thinking about her friend's feelings. Oh well, nobody's perfect.

We went in to find some good seats. Not such a big problem for us, cos we were the elite of our batch. Everyone surrendered to us, especially when they saw Mimi tapping her feet impatiently. No one in his or her right senses incurs the wrath of Mimi Tachikawa on purpose. That does not include yours truly, mostly because, as Mimi always tells me, I am never in my right senses.

We did find good seats, although of course, Mimi found a problem with them right away.

"It's exactly next to the boys' row. I. Will. Not. Sit. Here." she said, emphasizing every word.

"Ok, lets strike a deal. You sit on the other side, I'll sit on the side that's adjacent to the boys. Ok?" I asked.

"Fine," she sniffed, dropping her hot pink binder and pens on the table and sitting down.

We watched the students come in and take their places. Our friends, Ramona and Miyoko took seats in front of us. Miyoko was a complete tomboy like me. She kept her hair really short and it was very curly. She had huge black eyes, a great sense of humor and a passion for conserving animals. Ramona was an artist, with long straight brown hair, green eyes and glasses. She was an avid reader, a budding writer and a fanatical cat lover. All of us were firm friends, despite our varied tastes.

"Hi girls," Ramona said, straightening her glasses. "How'd your summer go?"

"Ha ha… Very funny girl," I said. "Didn't you just see us day before?" I grinned.

"Ok, let me rephrase that. How was the one day you spent without my company?" she asked playfully.

"Obviously mind blowingly awesome," Miyoko said. "Anyone would celebrate if they were rid of your boring company," she said in a teasing voice.

Just then, I saw the boys sitting next to us from the corner of my eye. Oh man, it was TaiChi and Blondie the Sociopath.

"Sora! I didn't know you were in Heisho Academy! And we're in the same grade too! This is great!" TaiChi said, reaching across Yamato to give me a high five. Yamato looked like he was bored to death. I shrugged and answered TaiChi's high five.

"This is it. Ramona, will you please swap with me?" Meems said, getting up from her place pointedly.

"Uhh… Sure," Ramona said uncertainly while TaiChi raised his eyebrows, wondering if it was his fault.

I gave him a reassuring look and looked in front. Our teacher was telling us about the first term in school. I had to really strain to hear her, she had a really soft voice. She looked pretty lenient too. She was saying something about being our physics teacher. Oh Lord. How was anyone going to hear anything she said? Will she get a megaphone from tomorrow?

"Will she use a megaphone when she teaches us?" I heard a deep voice mutter to my right. It was Blondie. I was startled for a moment. He had just spoken out my precise thoughts. I just HAD to talk to this guy.

"That's exactly what I was thinking," I said.

"Uh huh," came the very eloquent answer. I gave up. Nobody could make this guy talk on his own. However, just as we were getting our schedules I heard him say, "Didn't you clinch the women's singles title a couple of month ago?"

"Huh?" was my brilliant reply because I wasn't really focusing on what he had said. Then his words sank in and I replied, "Oh, the under 19 title? Yup… but that tourney was in Kyoto… How'd you know about it?"

"I used to live there… Saw your name and picture in the papers after the tourney. Congratulations," he said, in a surly tone, as though he was belittling me instead of congratulating. All my interest in speaking to the dude evaporated on the spot.

"Thanks," I said dryly, feeling disgusted with the sample sitting next to me. Couldn't he at least PRETEND to be interested? He needed tips on how to interact with normal human beings. Could someone please cue him in?

The rest of the morning passed slowly. TaiChi made funny remarks about all the teachers, not even bothering to keep his voice down. That got him plenty of foul looks and 'last warnings' but nothing seemed to squash that jubilant good humor of his. I tried not to look towards him and Yamato, not wanting to meet Blondie's cold stare, but couldn't help sniggering at TaiChi's jokes. Every time I giggled, Mimi looked behind at me and gave me scathing looks. And I rolled my eyes back at her each time.

Just as the day was ending, a paper ball landed on my desk. I unrolled it to see a couple of lines in an awful handwriting. Through some intense squinting I could just barely make out the words 'School is so boring… The teachers are annoying… Bored outta my life. Tai.'

I drew a smiley and wrote 'It'll pick up pace in the next coupla weeks'. I threw the paper back to him. He read it and mock- groaned. Then he scribbled in something else and threw the paper back to me. Meanwhile, Yamato was looking on distastefully, and I was strongly reminded of Meems. I grinned to myself and opened the paper. Tai had written 'You comin' to HO today?'

I wrote back 'For sure! See you then!' I threw it back and he caught it just as the bell rang. Everyone scrambled out of their places and ran for the door, including me. Don't get me wrong, its not like I didn't want to socialize with TaiChi or anything, its just that Blondie made me very uncomfortable. And plus, if Meems stood for one more second than necessary in the same room as Yamato Ishida, I knew she'd be hopping mad. So I had to scoot. But I paused at the door and looked back. TaiChi and Yamato were standing close together and the blonde was smiling. That wonderful smile made something lurch inside me I felt an unusual pang of sadness as I went out of the classroom.

**-Yamato's P.O.V-**

I waited outside Hang Out for Tai. His shift had just got over. It was the end of a really long day, today being the first day in my new school, Heisho Academy. The day had been full of surprises, not all of them pleasant. Actually, none of today's surprises were pleasant in any way. Firstly, I came to know that I was in the same grade and same class as Sora Takenouchi. Secondly, TaiChi seemed utterly besotted by her, which made him act really stupidly all through today and earn him more than his fair share of punishments from the teachers. TaiChi can do to extremes just to draw attention to himself. Thirdly, and this truly was a surprise, Sora tried to talk to me today. Obviously, I wanted to have nothing to do with her so I gave her non committal answers, which, sure enough, discouraged her to carry on any further conversation.

I did feel a tinge of regret for appearing so rude so I tried to make amends by asking her about her win in Kyoto. Unfortunately that backfired on me because talking about Kyoto brought back all the bad memories of the arguments Mom and Dad used to have, and I knew, by Sora's disgusted expression, that I had unconsciously appeared very impolite to her. I knew it was far too late to make any amends so I decided to stay away from the girl.

TaiChi was not helping matters. He was seizing every opportunity that he could to befriend Sora and for some reason, I did not like it. The carefree way in which that girl interacted with my best friend made me slightly envious. Tai was on his way to becoming a fast friend of hers and this fact irked me beyond reason. But one had to admit, she knew how to handle a madcap like my friend. That much was evident from the notes exchanged between her and Tai in class today.

Just then, Tai came out of the fast food joint and joined me. "What's the plan for the evening?" he asked as we began walking away from Hang Out.

"I dunno… What do you wanna do?" I asked him.

"There's this match I wanna catch… Let's go to my place… Stay for dinner if you want to," he said.

"Thanks dude… Dad's gonna be late from work today," I said, keying in a text message, telling my dad about having dinner at Tai's.

For some time, the two of us walked down the road in silence. I kicked out at a pebble on the road. It skipped across the road and Tai snorted. "Pitiful," he remarked. I punched him on the shoulder and said, "Yeah, yeah, we all know that you're the soccer champ… Wait till you enter the basketball court, I'm gonna thrash you!"

"That is just a load of big talk…" Tai said, but he shut his trap anyway. After a few minutes of thought he asked, "How'd you find day one at Heisho?"

"So-so," I said noncommittally, hoping Tai wouldn't ask further. He didn't, luckily. He began telling me about the various people he had met that day at Hang Out. I wasn't really paying attention and missed something that he said.

"Hello?" he asked me. "Did you hear me?"

"Sorry TaiChi… I kinda zoned… what is it?" I asked, a little guiltily.

"Sora and Mimi dropped in today," he said, looking at me expectantly.

"So?" I didn't see why he found it so important to tell me this.

"She's a soccer nut too you know," Tai said.

"How'd you come to know? She's a tennis player otherwise," I said.

"Aha! How'd you know that it was Sora I was talking about and not Mimi?" Tai literally pounced on me.

"Whoa… I just put two and two together Yagami. Sora's a sportswoman, and I'm willing to bet on my hair that Mimi can't play to save her life. Those witches' nails of hers are deadly!" I said coolly.

"Yes, yes, everyone bow down to the supreme deduction powers of Matt Holmes," Tai said loftily, grinning at me like a fool.

"Stop it you nut," I said. "You were telling me about how you came to know that she's a soccer nut too."

"I mentioned that I had to get home early and catch the match," Tai explained, "And she totally agreed with me… She's a true soccer fan."

"Good for you…" I muttered.

Meanwhile, we had reached TaiChi's apartment. He pushed open the door and his cat came out and began winding around his legs. For all his superior athletic ability on the football field, Tai just barely managed to save himself from toppling on to the tiled floor.

"Little bugger thinks it funny to make me fall down," he said, stepping over the white cat, Sardine and hanging up his jacket on the coat rack.

"Poor Sardine… Is Tai being mean to you again…? Come here baby," Tai's kid sister Hikari cooed from the doorway of her bedroom. She was eight too, same age as TK. I knew she was really miserable about moving away from her favorite playmate. But she was a great kid. Never lets anyone around her feel miserable. "Hey Yamato… How's it goin?" she said, and surprised me for a moment by coming up and hugging my legs.

"Hey kiddo," I rumpled her hair and hugged her back. It felt good. "How's it goin for you?"

"Same old, same old," she said with a wink in a perfect imitation of her brother. She met her brother's gaze and said, "Yes, I shall scram now. Bye Yamato!" She retreated to her bedroom and shut the door.

"let's see what we can pop in and reheat," Tai said as he pulled open the fridge door. "Mum's not home so we gotta depend on either takeouts or leftovers," he explained as he examined various dishes on shelves.

"Let's order a takeout. On me," I said. Mrs. Yagami might be a delightful woman but cooking was not one of her strong suits. Not all of her wild experimentations were edible and I was rather nervous about sampling her leftovers.

"Takeout sounds good… There's nothing worth eating in the fridge," TaiChi said. He pulled out a couple of cans of soda while I called a pizza parlor. While we waited for our dinner to arrive, TaiChi and I sat on the couch and had our sodas. Sardine had slunk out from Hikari's room and was curled on TaiChi's lap, a fact that he noted with some disgust, especially when Hikari came out to drink some water and laughed her guts out at the sight.

"You asked Sora Takenouchi about her tourney in Kyoto didn't you?" TaiChi asked me suddenly.

"How'd you know?" I asked, a tad stupidly.

"I was sitting right next to you and plus she mentioned it again when she had stopped by," he said, looking at me as though I needed a shrink.

"She did? What did she say?" I asked, annoyed by the eagerness in my voice.

"Actually she was pretty pissed off by what she called your 'belittling tone'," Tai said, making quotation marks with his fingers. "Yeah, I know," he added as I opened my mouth to speak, "You were thinking of your parents. Totally understandable."

"I never meant to piss her off Tai," I said.

"You'll have to find some way of making it up to her," he said, getting up as the doorbell rang. Sardine slipped of his lap and went off to Hikari, after throwing Tai a disgusted look. I thought of what Tai had said, while he collected the pizzas and paid the delivery guy with the money I'd given him. What did it matter if Sora Takenouchi had taken offense at my words? Who was she to me? A nobody. Looking at her brought back bad memories, the demons of my recent past. I deserved a new life, and I that life would be far, far happier without a certain red headed girl.

"Watcha thinking Matt?" Tai said, handing me a slice of the pepperoni pizza.

"I'm thinking that I owe Sora Takenouchi nothing. She oughta get herself a thick skin if she didn't like my belittling tone," I said, biting into my pizza. Tai looked like he wanted to argue further but he made a smart move by concentrating on the food.

**AN: **Yes, Yamato decides that he's going to have nothing to do with Sora. But the tables will soon turn! And till they do… Keep in touch, keep reviewing, and as I always say, take care!

~Drakky28293~


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Digimon or any of its characters!

**AN: **So I hope all of you enjoyed the previous chapters. I know the ones with Yama's P.O.V are kinda short, but I really can't do much about it. I'm not really good at psychoanalyzing a guy's thoughts, and most of the time, the reason behind a guy's action completely escapes me. So, I've tried my best here, hope you all find that sufficient. In this next chapter, Sora goes over all that she's seen, observed and experienced with relation to Yamato Ishida and tries to draw a conclusion that might make some sense. Read on to know more, and don't forget those reviews!

**THE DIVIDING LINE**

**CHAPTER IV**

**-Sora's P.O.V.-  
**

"So, let me get this straight. You think that Yamato Ishida has a past in Kyoto? And that he's a merciless womanizer, leaving behind several broken hearts back there when he moved." I said slowly, choosing my words carefully. Meems and I had turned down Ramona and Miyoko's offer of a sleepover and I was chilling out at Meem's condominium because Mum was going to be late. I reached out for my can of soda, took a sip and leaned back into the black, über-plush sofa. There was nothing like some ice-cold soda to wash down the first day of school.

"Err… Sor… That's exactly what I've been trying to tell you ever since we saw those two good-for-nothings in Hang Out. Now would you like to see an advertisement on TV to believe me?" Mimi said sarcastically, taking a sip of her own soda.

"Nothing like that Meems. It's just that… what you say and what he appears, somehow don't seem to add up… don't you agree?" I asked her.

"You'll have to demonstrate how it doesn't add up because I think that he's exactly the person I've heard him to be," Meems said, almost dismissively, as though whatever I'd say wouldn't make her change her opinion. She reached forward and turned on the TV.

"Firstly, he looks like his life's better off with no girls. At least, that's what I think. Have you ever seen him consciously try to engage a girl in conversation?" I asked her.

"Yes I have. You." Meems said.

"Excuse me?" I said, unable to see what she was getting at.

"He asked about your tourney didn't he? And congratulated you too," she reminded me.

"Puh-lease." I rolled my eyes. "You call those congratulatory tidings? It was more like he was sneering at me," I said. I really didn't care about Yamato's opinion of my win because I hardly knew him, but his tone had stung. I shook myself mentally and collected my thoughts. "That brings me back to my original point. If he is a womanizer, he wouldn't be so rude. He'd lay the charm. And lay it thick."

"Change of tactic." Mimi declared, and I had the distinct feeling that she was grasping at straws.

"I don't think so Meems. What girl would be turned on by a guy who spoke only in monosyllables and belittled their achievements?" I asked.

Mimi was silent for a while. Then she said with a shrug, "He's on a break from womanizing."

"Jesus girl! Will you just give it a rest?" I exclaimed, starting to laugh. Trust Mimi to be fully aware of the fact that she had lost the argument but still stick to her argument. "Just out of curiosity, who told you that he's a player anyway?"

"Oh, one of my squad mates' pen pals told her and she told me," Mimi said, channel surfing.

I grabbed the remote from her and switched to a music channel. I asked Meems, "And how do you know that you can trust this source of yours?"

"I don't actually. But I have no reason to believe that I can't trust her either." Mimi said in a significant voice. "I need to go to for a cheerleader's meeting," she said, getting off the couch. She didn't meet my eyes as she collected the soda cans. I recognized the dismissal. She was angry with me.

"See you in school Meems!" I called to her receding back. I switched off the TV and slipped out of her condo. Mimi had cold-shouldered me plenty of times before and this time would be no different. She'd be perfectly fine in a few hours. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if I got an apology from her before midnight. She just wasn't happy about the fact that things weren't going her way.

Soon enough, I was unlocking the door to my house. As I let myself in, I was pondering on what Tai had told me earlier that day

_(Flashback)_

_I paid Tai the money for my root beer and he smiled again at the tip I'd given him. "So how'd you like the first day if school?" I asked him._

"_Your teachers are weird! They're oblivious to my charm," he said, giving me a wink._

"_Charm? What charm?" I laughed_

"_Yeah, yeah… Go on, deny it… But you know the truth deep down inside that you're drawn to me aren't you?" he said, now flirting very obviously. Thank god, Meems was busy talking to some of her cheerleader pals in the other corner of the joint or else she'd have burst out then and there at TaiChi's words._

"_Go home you perv!" I said, taking a swig of the root beer._

"_That's exactly what I want to do… I need to catch today's soccer match! Hope this manager doesn't make me do overtime," he moaned._

"_Hey! I love soccer too! I'm sure today's match is going to be nail biting!" I said enthusiastically._

"_Well whaddya know? The lady's fond of soccer!" TaiChi said in mock wonder. "Who would think that a girl who clinched the under 19 tennis title would be a soccer freak?" Then looking at my face he said, "I'm Matt's, oh sorry, Yamato's partner hon. I heard him congratulate you. I myself care two hoots bout tennis but congrats on your win all the same!"_

"_Thanks TaiChi! That is very nice of you. And do you think what the sociopath told me really counted as congratulation?" I said, my expression changing from pleased to annoyed in a millisecond._

"_Don't mind him Sora," TaiChi said._

"_Was he partial to the girl who lost to me? Is that why he was sore at me?" I said, attempting to crack a joke._

"_It wasn't like that. It's not my story to tell. Just don't think about it. I know Matt. He wouldn't usually be so curt," he said, looking serious._

"_Whatever problem he has, it ain't an excuse for belittling my performance. I guess I'll be seeing you around Tai!" I said turning my back to the brunette._

"_Let's go Meems!" I said and I heard he call out "Toodles dahlins!" to her squad mates and join me. I didn't tell her anything about my conversation with TaiChi, knowing that neither would she approve, nor would she be interested. I was pondering on our exchange all the way back to Mimi's condo, only snapping out of it when we set foot into her centrally heated lounge._

_(End of Flashback)_

I turned on the lights and headed to the kitchen to see if there was something that I could heat. Finding nothing, I tossed in some greens and meat and made a salad, spilling in almost the entire mayo and thousand- island dressing, which was how I liked it. While I was tossing together the salad, I systematically thought over every moment I had spent with Yamato, and every moment that I had spent with people who had spoken about him. It was confusing. Everyone was saying contradictory stuff. Nothing was adding up. But despite all the confusion, one thing was crystal clear. I needed to know this guy better. Or else, how'd I figure out what was right or what was wrong? Armed with this idea, I took my plate of salad and switched on the TV, finally taking a break from pondering over a certain enigmatic blonde.

By the time I had finished eating and was ready for bed, I had a clear plan in my mind. The best way to know the truth is to find out for myself. Let it be known that Sora Takenouchi never shied away from a challenge. I decided then and there, not to heed Meem's warning and try to befriend Yamato Ishida and find out what was the truth about his supposed past. This would give ME the satisfaction of clearing up someone else's reputation. After all, who wanted to live with the tag of 'womanizer'? Specially if it was a wrong one. I had to do what I could to uncover the truth. As I closed my eyes, the last thing I saw before sleep claimed me was the adorable smile that had adorned Yamato's face the today when he read the note that I had passed Tai.

**AN: **Geez, what a bloody useless chapter! I know I'm going to get loads of flames for this one. Anyway, the action picks up in the next chapter. The reason why it was so vague all this while was because these past four chapters were mostly fiction. Next chapter on, mostly everything has been experienced by yours truly, so I have something solid to write about. Please be kind with your reviews and till next time, as I always say, take care everybody!

~Drakky28293~


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon or any of it's characters!

**AN:** Hi everybody! It's really been a morale booster to see that at least _someone _is reading this story and is interested in how things progress. _Mahwash17_ thank you so much! Hope you like this one as well!Here's chapter 5… The action picks up a little here. Hope you all out there like it… Please do read and review!

**THE DIVIDING LINE**

**CHAPTER V**

**-Sora's P.O.V-**

After assembly as all of us walked into the classroom, I glanced automatically towards the boys' row. TaiChi and Yamato had already taken seats at the back. Even better, Yamato's place was right next to the girls' row. I made a beeline for the empty seats next to their row. Just then, I remembered that my phone wasn't on silent. I set my binder down on the table and took out my phone.

"Nice phone," drawled an unexpected voice to my right. I looked up to see a big guy looking at me. He was sitting two seats ahead of Yamato and TaiChi. I tried to smile but there was something about the look in his eyes that creeped me out. Besides, he had awful zits and was wearing spectacles with cracked lenses. He wore a cap and probably imagined that he could take on Eminem, but to me he just looked desperate. "I'm Aki," he said, offering a hand. I got my hand crushed by him and sat down on my place.

"Sora! How are you?" TaiChi called out.

"Good… But you oughta ask that at the end of a school day. Let's see if I'm still good by then," I said, glad of a reason not to talk to Aki. I saw him out of the corner of my eye. He looked a tad annoyed but he looked in front and I saw him try to talk to a girl with vivid purple hair.

I gave Yamato a big smile and he looked a little taken aback. No smile in return though. He simply glanced down and began shuffling his notes. I decided to try my luck later and began asking Miyoko about their sleepover.

Fifteen minutes into our first class, a new student arrived. The minute she set foot in the class, almost every single male's mouth fell open. Well, I said almost every male because Yamato took one look at her, mouthed the word "slut" and bent over his notebook again. The new girl was petite, fair, with pixyish looks and light brown hair that she had streaked with bright orange. Her skirt was much shorter than the usual length, and she had forsaken the school shoes in favor of a pair of high tops. A tattoo of a butterfly adorned the right side of her neck. She had brilliant blue nail polish and numerous rings on her fingers. I heard her talking to the class teacher. Her name was Kiara and that husky voice of hers had the boys salivating. I noticed TaiChi send a grateful prayer heavenwards and Aki shoved at the guy in front of him leaving a place vacant for Kiara. She took the place ahead of Aki and he immediately bent towards her and asked her whether she was new in town. TaiChi and every other boy in the class, except for Yamato were frowning at Aki when suddenly, without any visible provocation, Kiara showed the big guy her middle finger. Sniggers filled the air.

"Definite slut." That was Yamato again.

"Do you always form definite opinions about people without getting to know them?" I hissed out of the corner at my mouth at him.

"Not always… But it's obvious in this case here. She's practically a neon advertisement for a cheap lay!" he said.

Definitely not a characteristic trait of a womanizer, I mentally noted. If he was the player Mimi had claimed him to be, he would have been drooling with his eyes popping out and jaw hitting the floor. My phone vibrated in my skirt pocket. I took it out carefully and checked the message under the cover of my desk.

_Wat a wannab!_

It was from Meems.

I grinned and craned my neck to see Mimi, who had chosen to sit three rows ahead of me today. She was looking distastefully at Kiara's rings out of the corner of her eye and her notebook was blank. Trust Mimi to forget to take notes on beholding someone who she felt was a fashion disaster!

"Miss Tachikawa, could you please direct your attention to the board and focus on our lesson for today?" the teacher asked Meems. She stood up with a start and apologized for her absentmindedness.

I stifled a laugh. Meems could worm her way out of anything with those puppy eyes. I wrote back to her

_Way to lay on the charm Tachikawa!_

Her reply wasn't long in coming.

_Have you ever known ANYBODY who could resist me?! ;) Btw, sorry to kick you outta d house lyk dat. Didn't mean to be rude. I'm reli sorry and m gonna give Yamato a second chance._

Alright! I had just sent a happy smiley to her when the teacher chose me to be his next casualty.

"Miss Takenouchi!" he called out.

"Y…y…yes sir?" I stuttered as I stood up.

"Have you finished your exercise? Show me your answers!," he ordered.

Shit. I hadn't answered a single question. Suddenly, two seats next to me, Tai yelped in pain and started uttering a string of curses.

"Mr. Yagami! Is this the kind of language to be used in the classroom?" the teacher thundered and turned all his attention to him

"Someone just kicked me sir! I swear!" he declared. In the entire hullabaloo, I felt a tugging sensation on my sleeve. I turned in surprise to see Yamato quickly take away my notebook and replace it with his own.

"Every year you students get worse and worse," the teacher was muttering as he turned to face me. "Now. Sora. I hope you have the answers," his expression indicating that if I didn't, there would be hell to pay for. I picked up the notebook on my desk and nervously started reading off the answers.

While I was midway through the third answer, the teacher snorted, "Oh sit down already!" meaning that the answers were all correct and he couldn't find an excuse to reprimand me.

I sat down and gave my lifesaver a grateful smile.

"Thanks," I mouthed to him.

"Whatever," he said, returning my book and retrieving his own from me. But even his utterly bored reply could not dampen my spirits. He had actually helped me out. This meant that he wasn't indifferent. This could mean that I might succeed in befriending him.

Soon afterwards, the bell rang and people rushed out of the class for break. I told Miyoko and Ramona to go ahead without me. They took Mimi and went out. I stood up, contemplating the best way to approach Yamato. I glanced to my right. Yamato pulled his wallet out of his pocket, opened it and groaned.

"Dude, can I borrow some money? I spent all of mine yesterday," I heard him tell TaiChi.

"Should've thought of that before you almost skinned me Matt," Tai growled. Tai's normally happy demeanor had morphed into something dangerous. I half wondered if they would go at each others' necks or something. Then, just as suddenly his expression cleared and he dug Yamato in the ribs. "Sorry buddy. I'm zero on cash. And anyway, I have soccer tryouts now." Was it just my imagination or did Tai just wink at me while leaving the classroom?

Anyway, I decided to take my chances. "Hey," I said.

"Oh. Hey," he said, looking sideways at me and then turning again. He cussed, replaced his wallet in his pocket and took out his cell phone.

"You have one sweet phone," I said, mentally cringing because I knew how lame I must have looked, trying desperately to converse with this monotonous specimen. Plus, it suddenly struck me that I must have sounded an awful lot like Aki. Yamato, however didn't think so.

"Thanks. Just got it last week," he said, turning back to look at me.

"By the way, thanks again. You just saved my ass back there in chem.," I said, grinning.

"No problem," he said, returning my smile a little hesitantly.

"I owe you one. Let's go grab a bite at the cafeteria. On me," I offered.

"You don't really have too…" he said.

"I insist!" I held out a hand. "Sora Takenouchi."

"Yeah. I know. Yamato Ishida," he said, ignoring my outstretched hand and raising a fist. I clenched my hand into a fist and knocked his. This time, his smile was simply radiant, and it reached his magnificent cerulean blue eyes.

"Yeah. I know," I retorted, and he laughed in that wonderful baritone of his and we walked out of the classroom together.

**-Yamato's P.O.V-**

I could not believe what I had gotten myself into. Here I was, having sandwiches and juice at the school cafeteria, financed by Sora Takenouchi! The girl I vowed I would have nothing to do with! And if this wasn't enough, what was up with that stunt I just pulled off back during the class? I had kicked my best friend in the shins to save this irritating female who I barely knew!

All I knew was that at that instant, when the teacher had called out her name, she had just frozen and her eyes had gone wide and she looked so scared. I just felt like doing something to help her out!

But WHY was I acting impulsively and disregarding what I had told myself yesterday in TaiChi's apartment? Speaking of the bush head, hope he doesn't catch me sitting here with this girl or I'm never going to hear the end of it. Well, luckily he's off to sign his name for the football tryouts, so maybe I can sneak out before he comes in to eat. Meanwhile, Sora was chattering on and on. I tried to pay attention to what she was saying.

"…I mean what is the point of starting term on a Thursday? They ought to have reopened Heisho Academy on Monday! Then we'd have four more days of holiday!" she was saying.

"How do you work out four?" I said.

"Yesterday, today, Saturday and Sunday, duh!" she rolled her eyes at me. I shut my mouth, feeling stupid.

"What a despo," she muttered, suddenly.

"Watch who you're calling desperate," I said angrily.

"What? Oh, not YOU. Him," she said, pointing. I followed her gaze to see the hulking guy, Aki following the new girl Kiara like an eager puppy. I snorted.

"The word 'desperate' does not do him justice," I said. "He's tried to talk to every female in the year!"

"Looks like Kiara takes top priority now," she chuckled. I had to admit, the girl was making plenty of heads turn. She looked good, no doubt, but she also seemed arrogant, and not to mention, quite a few notches high in the desperation department herself. Even now, I noticed that she sat at a table bang opposite the one that jocks sat at and was looking their way in a very indiscreet manner.

"Aki seems pretty tame compared to the girl," I commented.

"Maybe it's a tie," Sora said, as we both saw Aki take the seat next to her and offer her a sandwich. A half eaten one. Ugh. And she actually took a bite out of it, right out of Aki's hands. I looked away.

"Oh man, let's go," Sora groaned next to me.

"Excellent idea," I agreed and we both stood up. Besides, there was every chance that Tai would come bursting into the cafeteria and I had no intention of being subjected to his teasing and jibes all the way back home.

"So, what sport do you like to play?" Sora asked me as we were going up to class.

"I like soccer, but don't play it as often as I'd like to. I'm nothing compared to Tai, but I do enjoy a good game. And of course, I love watching it on TV," I said.

"Hey, I love soccer too," she piped up.

"I know. Tai told me," I said and I saw her eyes widen.

"Really? Oh," she said and then I think she wanted to add something more but she changed the subject.

"What have we got now?" she asked.

'Physics 2. Our class teacher," I said and I smiled as she pretended to stagger and faint.

"Man… I don't understand physics at all! Physics and me don't get along at all! Why? Oh why do I have to go through this torture?" she wailed dramatically.

"I totally sympathize. I hate physics too," I replied.

"No, no Yamato. You don't hate physics. Never say 'hate'. You may say 'I strongly dislike physics'" Sora said in a mock-reprimanding voice.

"Yes Mother," I said, feeling sour and returning the smile with some difficulty.

"Hope that woman has a megaphone with her today," Sora said fervently. I laughed at that. Somehow, the very presence of this girl was like intensive therapy for me. The harsh memories of my last days in Kyoto became inconsequential, fuzzy dust bunnies at the back of my mind when she was around. Even when she was acting like a stern mother, I didn't dwell too much on it. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to hang out with this girl.

We entered the class and took our seats. Break was still on, so many seats were empty. "So, do you like songs by Greenday (AN: Not mine! Neither do I own any of their songs!)?" Sora suddenly asked.

"I'm learning Wake Me Up When September Ends," I grinned.

"Whoa… You mean you play an instrument?" she said, suddenly leaning forward and looking at me with shining eyes.

"Sure… I play the guitar," I said.

"No shit… That is awesome!" she exclaimed.

"Not shit at all… I've been learning for the past one year," I said. "And the first song I learnt was Bryan Adams' 'Cloud Number Nine' (AN: I do not own Cloud Number Nine nor any of the songs mentioned after this!). Now I know quite a lot of songs. 'Summer Of '69', 'Time Of Your Life', 'Take Me Home Country Roads', 'Hotel California'… I trailed off,"

"Awesome," she said again, but it was a whisper this time and she had an expression appropriate to worshipping admiration in her eyes.

"Err, ahem, thanks," I said, clearing my throat awkwardly. I changed the topic. "Will you be coming to Hang Out today?"

"Sure I will… I go there everyday without fail!" she said. "I'm Hang Out's…"

"Most regular regular," I completed her sentence for her and once again, I saw those ruby red eyes of her widen in shock. "I was there when you and Tai first met, remember?"

She looked away and said something that sounded like "how could I forget?" but she looked up and said, "The bell's about to ring. I'm gonna die of boredom in the next hour. I will never last till school gets over!"

"Hope to see you alive," I smiled at her just as students began pouring into class.

An hour later, I came out of the class to find Sora waiting outside the classroom door for me.

"Hello Ms. Takenouchi, it's good to see you alive," I said jovially.

"Why thank you Mr. Ishida, you don't look too bad yourself for someone who claims to hate physics," she said. We fell in step and began walking out of the school building.

"Someone told me that I merely strongly dislike physics, I don't hate it," I said, with a wink.

"That, buddy, is my line. You cannot steal my line," she pouted.

"I don't think your line was copyrighted, so that entitles me to use it!" I declared and she stuck her tongue out at me in response.

Ahead of us we heard someone laugh throatily. We took a turn around the main building to see Kiara, walking arm-in-arm with a short, slight boy, who was walking with a spring in his step. He had wheatish skin and messed up hair.

"Seishiro! My lunch is gonna come out of my mouth, don't make me laugh, please!" Kiara was gasping for breath and looking like she was having the time of her life.

"Oh joy," mumbled Sora. "I hope she barfs up her lunch in Aki's face!"

"Think of the devil…" I said as a very familiar drawl yelled out "Hey Seishiro!" behind us.

Aki caught up to us and gave a start when he saw Kiara with Seishiro.

"Let's go boozing buddy," he said and gave the girl next to me a lecherous look. "Do you wanna join us Sora?"

I thought I saw her shudder and for good reason too. "Lose yourself dude!" I snapped at him.

"Oh yes I will," he said twisting the cap he wore, to the side. "Hang around with me and my buddy Seishiro here babe," he added to Sora with a wink. "We'll show you how to live! Take care of that sweet phone of yours, there's bad people in this world!"

"Aki!" Kiara called out and he was at her side in a heartbeat. "Let's go have some fun… I'm sure Sora will join us, but I guess today is not the day," she said, looking like she would never want the day to dawn when Sora would want to hang out with them. The three of them walked out of sight with Kiara saying, "Oh I wish somebody would give me a ride home… I am so tired…"

"Jerks," Sora mumbled at my side and I looked down at her. Her face was bone white and that made her eyes stand out more vividly.

"Don't take them seriously," I said, patting her on the back.

Just then her phone rang. "Dang, that must be Meems! She must be waiting for me. I gotta run Yamato. I'll see you on Monday. Or maybe in Hang Out," she said.

"See you Sora," I said.

"Hold on… Give me your number. Let's stay in touch," she said.

"Err… I don't know mine yet. Tell me yours and I'll text you," I said.

"Fine," she said. I keyed in her number and sent her an empty text message.

"Got it. Thanks Yamato!" she said and ran off.

A couple of minutes after she left, TaiChi came up to me. "Dude, where were you?" he demanded.

"You don't need to know," I said. My phone vibrated in my pocket.

_Nice meeting you. Stay in touch. Take care =)_

I keyed in my reply to Sora

_Right back atcha! ;-)_

**AN: **I told you that the tables would turn, didn't I? Anyway, please do review to let me know what you think! And till next time, as I always say, take care everybody!

~Drakky28293~


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Digimon or any of its characters! Neither do I own Linkin Park, even though I am a fervent worshipper of theirs!

**AN: **Hello again everybody! I am back with chapter six! Hope all of you enjoyed the previous chapter, and I hope you like this one too.

_Mahwish17… _Thanks for that positive review! I bet this chapter will make you happy in terms of its length too!

_Neverknowsbest… _It's an enormous compliment for any author to know that they've been able to change your opinion! Thanks for reviewing!

Don't forget to leave behind those reviews, and please do remember to be kind! Have fun reading!

**THE DIVIDING LINE**

**CHAPTER VI**

**-Sora's P.O.V-**

I slept in on Saturday, so by the time I opened my eyes, mum had already left for the shop. I glanced at the clock. Nine a.m. Hmmm… I weighed y choices between heading towards the gym pool, the tennis court or the soccer field. As I dressed and ate breakfast, the idea of a good workout and swim won the choice. I picked up my duffel bag that contained my workout clothes and swimsuit and turned to leave. I was almost out of the house before I remembered to take my cell phone.

In the elevator going down I texted my new friend Yamato Ishida and wished him good morning. I reflected on my attempt to make friends with him and felt immensely satisfied that I made some progress. We shared common interests (soccer, taking jibes at Kiara and Aki), common dislikes (Physics, Aki, Kiara), and we had helped each other (he saved my reputation in class and I bought him his sandwich) which certainly indicated that there was scope to get closer. We had met that evening in Hang Out. But it wasn't anything great. He just gave me a smile and sat down to chat with some guy buddies of his. Initially it hurt, especially since we had planned to meet, but then I shrugged and put it behind me. Matters didn't improve when Mimi snidely said, "I told you so," when I joined her, Ramona and Miyoko at their table morosely with my root beer.

My cell phone beeped then, interrupting my thoughts. A reply to my good morning message. Surprise, surprise. How I wish Miss Mimi "See-I-Told-You-So" Tachikawa was here to read this message. The elevator dinged, I got out of it and left my building via the lobby. The gym that I visit, is just a hop, skip and a jump away from where I live. It's on the ninth floor of the commercial building a block down from my apartment. I entered the lobby of the building and stood in line for the elevator there with other gym members and some office workers who worked in that building. I nodded to some of my acquaintances and checked my cell phone again.

A new message. Hmmm. Ishida, Yamato. My, my. Aren't we chatty today? I thought as I opened the message.

_Can't you allow a guy to have a decent night's sleep?_

read the very charming message. Smirking, I replied

_Its time a guy woke up ;)_

His reply?

_U r so incnsidrte_

I suppose he meant 'inconsiderate'. Wow, I think I actually get a kick outta taking the mickey out of Blondie. As I got out of the elevator, I typed in

_What plans for the day?_

His reply took a long time in coming

_Go away. I'm sleeping._

That somehow made me giggle like a schoolgirl as I ran on the treadmill. I could just imagine his surly face as his cell beeped and he checked his new message with a sour look on his face. That little video in my mind's eye really made my day. Just then I saw a sight that could rapidly ruin my day. It was my fervent admirer Kazune. He was, unfortunately, utterly infatuated with me.

Kazune was the in-house DJ of the gym. Being just a couple of years older than me, we had struck up an easy friendship when I had first signed up here. But soon, I realized, I was getting an entirely different vibe from the dude. He was smitten. It was evident in all that he said and did. Once day he offered to give me a ride to my place after my workout. I told him that I lived barely ten minutes away. That day, he walked me home, despite my protests. He offered to buy root beer for me practically every single day. I said no each time but it never stopped him from asking the next day. That boy was relentless. Much to my disgust, he worshipped the ground I walked on. He was like a little kid, unable to understand hints. Meems thought his devotion was cute. Ramona, being a tad paranoid, told me to look for another gym as he struck her as the "stalker type".

Frankly, now he was starting to creep me out just a teensy tiny bit. Take for instance now. He was just wearing a pair of workout gloves when he saw me. His face lit up with up a thousand watt smile and he abruptly turned around and went back to his DJ console. I saw him insert a new CD and press play. The opening beats of "In The End" resonated throughout the gym. I groaned inwardly. Why had I told him that my all time favorite musicians were Linkin Park? He had agreed with an enthusiastic "mine too Sora-chan!" and now, every time he realized that I was in the gym, he played that CD on loop. I had to think of a suitable way to let this guy down. Gently. Or I'm sure he'd dissolve into endless tears. Yep, he's like that.

"Good morning Sora-chan! You didn't inform me that you were coming today. I would have met you at the elevator!" he said as he took the cross trainer adjacent to mine. Being a gym employee, he got a complementary workout free of charge. It would do him good too. The fellow was only skin and bones. He could do with a little bulking up.

"Good morning Kazune-kun" I said, a little exasperated with him. "I can find my way to the ladies' changing room from the elevator by myself you know. I've been coming to this place for quite a while now"

"A year, three months and five days," was his prompt reply. "I've marked it on my bedside calendar," he added, with such a soppy expression on his face, it took all of my self control not to run away screaming.

OH. MY. GOD. I had to get rid of him. I would go crazy otherwise. I hit stop on the treadmill and hopped off. Seeing this, his face fell abruptly and he said, "Aren't you going to be working out with me today Sora chan?"

"Um, no, sorry Kazune-kun, I'm gonna hit the pool now. I'm in a bit of a rush you see. I need to finish off fast and go help out my mum at the shop. Weekends are busy down there," I said, lying through my teeth. Mum really needed no help, we had two part time workers who worked all day during the weekends at the shop. But he need not know that. But to my utter horror, he jumped off his treadmill too and said, "Brilliant. We can swim together!"

I groaned inwardly but when I snuck a look at the huge wall clock, I had a brain wave. "Hey Kazune, isn't it time for you to start your shift?"

He checked the oversize digital watch he wore on his hand (his first purchase with his first salary, as he had told me proudly, without ANY prompting from my side) and his face tragically fell. "You're right Sora chan," he said in a pained voice. "I need to be back at the console. But do stop by after you're done. We could grab some root beer."

I will change my favorite drink, I vowed to myself. I wish to have NOTHING in common with this stalker. I will even switch from Linkin Park to Green Day if that's what it would take to shake him off. Aloud I said, "Like I said Kazune-kun, I'm a little rushed for time today. Root beer some other day alright? See ya."

I knew he was gonna offer his hand to shake, and yet I turned and flounced off towards the changing rooms. I felt a bit bad, being so mean to him. Mimi's voice rang out in my head, 'Serves you right Sor, you can never let people down easily, always being soft with them.' Maybe she had a point. Maybe I did not know how to notice how infatuated a guy is with me, or how to let him down gently. But then, I was never prime game. I was mostly ignored by the opposite sex all through school. Sure, I had plenty of soccer buddies, but that's all I ever was to them, a buddy. My chances of ever snagging a boyfriend seemed practically nil. Well, except Kazune obviously. But I want a SENSIBLE guy. Not a worshipping puppy dog.

Pondering about all this, I changed into my swim suit and had a short shower. The cold water got me gasping and it was a while before I heard intense yelling from outside the changing room. Two people were arguing. Then to my horror, I recognized one of the voices as Kazune.

"Can't I just..?" he was saying defensively before he was cut off by a strong feminine voice, which I recognized as Saachi senpai, the gym manager.

"You certainly cannot park yourself on these couches when you're on the clock," she was yelling.

Allow me to explain. There is a ring of plush couches next to the pool. One can relax there, grab the daily news, have a decaf latte or energy drink from the little health bar (if they wished), as a way of cooling down after their workout. These couches, unfortunately, guaranteed one a pretty good peep into the women's dressing room if some dim witted bimbette left the door open by mistake. In a flash I realized what must have transpired. I felt a mixture of revulsion and pity for Kazune.

"If I find you even putting one step out of your DJ cubby hole, I will make sure you suffer," Saachi senpai was yelling.

"I'm truly sorry ma'am but…" Kazune was reasoning. Their voices trailed away.

My wish to take a dip vanished. I changed back to my regular shorts and sports jersey and took the back door to exit. As I left, I heard the song "Numb" play and I cringed and closed my eyes. Since I had got some free time on my hands, I decided to drop by the shop anyway to see if mum needed any help. On my way there, I grabbed a smoothie and a donut from the nearest general store.

I entered the store and waved out to our part time workers, Yolei and Iori. Yolei was a bubbly girl with oversize spectacles and mauve locks. Iori was a small solemn boy who didn't seem to find it below his dignity to work in such a "girly" environment as a flower shop. Mostly, he did it because he was utterly devoted to Yolei who was like a big sister to him.

"Good morning Sora!" Yolei greeted me. "Your mother is just outside overseeing the loading of the delivery truck. Big wedding downtown today. We made these glorious arrangements all morning" she said, gesturing to a few men who were balancing vast bouquets in their arms and taking them outside.

"Oh, then is any help required?" I asked, as I took a sip of water from the water dispenser in the corner.

"None whatsoever," my mum said, entering the shop. "We have it all under control, don't we?"

"Of course we do," Yolei beamed and even Iori gave a small smile.

"Alright folks, I will catch you all later then! I'm gonna go eat in Hang Out today," I informed mum on my way out, ruffling up Iori's hair, because I knew he didn't like it.

As I stepped on to the street, my cell buzzed. I hoped it was Miyoko. I wanted some company. To my surprise, it said, 'Ishida Yamato'. Hmmm. Blondie was awake.

_Wats up red?_

The flirty tone of the message had me raising my eyebrows. I just cannot figure out this dude. Cold one moment, insufferably rude the next, and then all of a sudden, sweet and warm, and before I can even blink, naughty and flirty when the mod strikes him. Can the real Yamato Ishida please stand up?

Anyway, we struck up a text conversation as I walked to Hang Out. TaiChi wasn't on duty today. Shame. I liked the kid. He was fun. I picked up my lunch and headed back home to while away my time in front of the idiot box. When asked what he was up to then, I was surprised to know that the two of us were doing the exact same thing: Watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (AN: Not mine!) on TV. That led to an animated discussion of the fact that all the males had forgotten to get haircuts for that particular movie in the super successful franchise. After that we got chatting about other stuff, everyday inconsequential things. But, soon, our conversation pettered out as I got absorbed in watching the movie. My phone beeped, jolting me out of my reverie. It was Yamato. I wondered if he was bored of watching the movie. But, to my surprise, the message said,

_Dude, I sent you 250 texts in two hours._

NO! oh crap, mum is gonna kill me when she sees my bill. I bid him a hurried goodbye and curled up with my duvet and turned back to the TV, but my thoughts weren't on Harry's progress through the maze. I was thinking of just how easily we could get along. Yet, there was a strange barrier in the way. His own attitude. I had to get past it. I had to.

**AN: **So, what are your thoughts? For the record, this incident is REAL. Or should I say, this chapter is based on a real incident. I used to have a stalker. Now he's out of my life, THANKFULLY. Anyway, coming back to the chapter, please, please, PLEASE write a precious few reviews and help me get this story completed quickly. Love you all! Till the next chapter, take care everybody!

~Drakky28293~


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Digimon or any of its characters!

**AN: **So! Man… The reason why I uploaded chapter 3 after such a long gap was because I was stuck on chapter six for more than a year! Takes writers block to a whole new level eh? I knew what had to be written, it's just that I had my board exams, then the laptop got spoilt (thank goodness, my writing is saved on an external hard drive), and by the time the new PC came along, I was caught up in entrance exams and admission hassles. Now I'm enjoying life to the hilt in vet school and I have all the free time I need to write away. So here's chapter 7 of my story, once again, hope you're happy with it, and hope I am forgiven for the delay in uploading.

Oh and for the anon guest reviewer, thank you for your review! And I spell TaiChi as such because that's how I've always seen it being spelt wherever I read about Digimon. I'm sorry if it annoys you!

Now this new chapter is a recap of the previous, through Yamato's eyes. So without further ado, I give you…

**THE DIVIDING LINE**

**CHAPTER VII**

**-Yamato's P.O.V.-**

The insistent ringing of the doorbell roused me from my sleep early on Sunday morning. Yes, ten thirty am is early for me. Already that redhead had disturbed my much loved slumber with her message. It's a conspiracy. The universe will not permit me a lie in on a Saturday morn.

Muttering some choice curses I went to get the door. It must be TaiChi probably, wanting a something-or-the-other. Maybe he wanted to use my computer to surf for porn or something.

"Dude, I hope you know that you can surf for porn at a more reasonable hour of the day. Or are you just that horny?" I said as I opened the door. My hand went limp on the door knob and I felt my jaw go slack. My neck started to get hot as I saw who I had just spoken to. It wasn't Tai. It was my MOM. My mother. Here. In Odaiba. At 10.30 in the morning. Had hell frozen over?

"M…mum! G…g…good morning," I stammered, holding the door open a little wider, and glancing furtively over my shoulder and praying for my dad to come along and rescue me.

"Yamato, what a fabulous way to start the morning, isn't it?" my mother said, one blond eyebrow raised quizzically as she entered the living room.

"I thought you were TaiChi… It was just… Would you like to sit down? Can I get you something? Do you wanna see dad? Should I call him? He's probably asleep" I began blabbering as I ushered my mother Nancy Ishida (now Takaishi) onto the couch.

"Your father is with Takeru now, probably at the movies or at the zoo," my mother turned surprised blue eyes to me, exactly like my little brother's. Dang! Was it visitation day already? I checked my phone calendar as I went to the kitchen to make some coffee for mum. I don't think I could bear to stand in the same room as her without yelling. I wish dad would've mentioned that he would be spending the day with kiddo to me yesterday.

"Yamato" my mother was at the kitchen doorway behind me. I slowly turned around to meet her gaze. The emotion in her eyes was hard to read. Tiredness? Apology? Remorse? Fright? It wouldn't be manly of me if I attacked her in this state. Or was it just a ploy for her to boss me around?

We did a little small talk. Or, at least, she did. I kept silent and added a few "hmms " and "ok" here and there. She spoke about her work and stuff back home. Apparently TK was adjusting to sleeping alone. Her eyes took on a dreamy, far- away look when she spoke about all this. I tried to be aloof, but it was very hard to reign in the urge to yell that if it weren't for her and dad's problems, they could have avoided the hassles of divorce, custody, visitation day and the heartaches of raising a child alone.

"Sweetie…" she hesitated, then took a deep breath and continued, "Have you eaten anything for breakfast?" I was surprised. I thought she would be out of my way and do her office work. I replied, "Na, I just woke up," with a sheepish grin.

"I had to set out from Kyoto pretty early. Didn't get a chance to grab a bite. Should I fix something?" she said, looking at me hopefully, a tad like TK sometimes does, when he's hoping that I have chocolates hidden in my pants. I relented. Maybe mom wasn't out for my blood.

"Sure mom. Uh… I'll be in my room if you need me," I said, hastily backing off before it got too emo. Last thing I needed was to see any waterworks. Or, even worse, have my mom hug me.

I entered my room, my thoughts all muddled. Dang. So that means sleep's outta the window. And I needed an alternative. Pronto. Tai couldn't be counted upon at this hour. The maniac was probably still asleep. Only alternative left. I sighed and keyed in a text to Sora. Like I suspected, the reply was instantaneous. Do chicks keep their cell phones glued to their fingertips or something? Bewildered, I switched on the TV. Maybe VH1 would be broadcasting an Iron Maiden concert or something. If I was lucky. Aaaaaand, I wasn't. So what else was new? I decided to surf channels in vain hope that maybe a hard core action flick was on. Rom com. Rom com. Rom com. Chick flick. Biopic. ANOTHER rom com. Geez. Aah! Harry Potter! Not a hard core follower, I couldn't bring myself to touch the books, but I enjoyed the movies. They were a good for spending time. Meanwhile, speaking of ways to pass the time, Sora replied to my text, asking me what I was up to. I told her. To my surprise, she too was watching the same movie. Then followed the inevitable joke of how all the boys had forgotten to take a haircut. It was something Tai and I had guffawed over a lot of times, but discussing it with this girl, made it seem doubly funny.

It was really amazing how the conversation flowed so easily with her. She made me feel happy. We spoke about many things, most of them meaningless and inconsequential, but there was no shortage of topics to talk about. My mum came in with sandwiches and coffee. I did not question her as to why it had taken a better part of two hours to rustle up something so simple. It wasn't my business anyway.

"So, how do you like school here?" she asked, hovering uncertainly around my bed.

I groaned inwardly. I was hoping to be left alone. "Fine" I answered, hoping she was done. Obviously, curse my luck, she wasn't.

"And, have you made any new friends?" she tried vainly to start up another conversation.

I did not mean to, but I yelled, "I am not five years old mum! If I don't have any friends, it's none of your business!"

To my horror and shame, my mum flinched and looked down. I could swear that a couple of tears hit the carpet. I was instantly sorry for my outburst. I reached out hesitantly.

"Mum… I'm sorry… I didn't mean to yell," I stammered. "Here, have a seat"

She perched on the edge of my bed, dry eyed, and took a deep breath. She turned to me, and nothing in the world couldn't have made me feel more awful than the broken expression and the hurt in her eyes.

"Yamato…" she began, and I was compelled to do the unthinkable. I hugged my mum. Not a superficial one. An all enveloping bear hug.

"Sweetie… Please… Despite how things look, I swear, I will always love you," she said, muffled against my shoulder. I couldn't think of a response. I wasn't sure of what to believe. I nodded against her head. Maybe she understood.

When we broke apart, she looked much happier. I thought it best to keep her in this frame of mind, seeing that we had to spend this entire day together. I tried to engage her in conversation. "Err mom… Earlier, you were saying…?" I prompted her.

"Yes, have you made any new friends?" she said, leaning forward.

"Yeah, well, there's Tai, but he's not NEW," I smirked, cheering up a bit to see my mom look much happier. "And then there's this girl," I said, hesitating to say the next bit as my mother swiveled around, her attention focused wholly on me, away from the TV.

"But I don't know… she's not a friend, not a close one anyway," I said, trying to explain. "Being with her is nice. I feel happy. But I can't open up. I don't know why," I shrugged.

All that my mother said was "Hmmm" and she left it alone. I had no idea why I described my exact feelings for Sora to my mother. It's not like she could help me in any way, seeing how she couldn't even make her own marriage last.

"So, have you tried taking up a job alongside Tai at Hang Out?" she asked me.

"How'd you know about his job?" I wanted to know.

"Your father mentioned it. In an e mail. After you settled in," she said, somewhat surprised that I didn't know this already. I had no idea my parents corresponded regularly. I felt ashamed of myself and my respect for my father increased hundredfold. Here he was, trying to make a new life, as a single dad (of an adolescent boy!), trying to fit in at work, and now I realized he had to probably keep mom apprised of all that happened with me. He was much too proud to e mail her voluntarily. Doing that would have taken some serious pride swallowing. All for my sake.

"Err… I haven't considered it yet mom. Maybe when I feel settled in. And if there are vacancies," I said.

This morning seemed too much to bear. I was surprised that my head hadn't already exploded with the emotional roller coaster. I needed space. I needed breathing room. I got up from the bed and volunteered to make lunch.

What I wasn't aware of was that I had left my cell phone on the low coffee table, pretty close to where mum was sitting. She's always respected my privacy before, and I never mind anyone checking my phone anyway. It's not like I have multitudes of liaisons to hide from the world. I thought I saw her pick up my cell and flip through it from the corner of my eye. It didn't bother me. I just started getting all the pans and ingredients out for lunch.

"Sweetie… What was this new girl's name?" my mom called out from the living room.

"Sora. Sora Takenouchi," I replied nonchalantly.

"You said it was difficult for you to open up and be friendly with her," my mum was suddenly at my shoulder.

"Yes," I said shortly. I know that most girls perceived me as a playboy behind my back. The reasons always baffled me. I found it incredibly hard to get along with the fairer sex. I had never had a serious relationship before this. Not that I wished to have one. I wasn't really missing anything, in my opinion. My parents were well aware of this. That's why I found my mum's unwillingness to drop the subject a tad irritating. Ok, I had made friends with a girl called Sora. Stop the presses!

"Yamato, I haven't read a single message in either your inbox or sent box…" my mother began

"And I'm not stopping you even if you want, they're nothing personal," I cut across her.

"No, alright, I might take you up on that a bit later. You see, it was the number that baffled me. Your statement and this don't add up." She said, handing me my phone

"What is it?" I said, and then I felt my eyes bug out a bit. 250 messages. TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY MESSAGES. In TWO HOURS! No wonder my mum stood, leaning a little against the dining table with a knowing smile on her face. Damn, my bill for this month is gonna make dad go broke. Ok, phone bill issue aside, how did I not realize? We were on an "iffy" start… maybe, if… Things had appeared so uncertain. How the hell then had I blown off an entire morning with this red head and had a nice time of it?

"I'll make lunch hon. Take a seat," mom said, moving to rescue a gravy that I had sent on high flame, which seemed like it would be scorched.

I informed Sora about this latest statistic. After that, strangely, there was no reply from her side. I tried to put it aside as later, mom and I sat down to have lunch.

The rest of the day was about fine. Mom and I definitely weren't gonna be best mates any time soon, but I had no hatred towards her. She tried to explain that she no longer saw what she had fallen for in my dad, but it had not in the least diminished her love for TK and me. Guess I could live with that.

Later, as she stood at the door, buttoning up her coat, I was listlessly lying on the couch and flipping channels on the TV.

"Yamato." My mother's serious tone made me look up.

"It was… Nice… to see you," I added a little hesitantly. Sure, it was the truth. The day hadn't sucked all that much.

"Likewise," she said, smiling and looking happy. I stood and gave her an awkward hug. As I was gonna pull away, she pulled me closer and all she said was "She's good for you son. Don't jeopardize it." Before I knew how to respond, my mother had shut the door behind her with a sharp snap and was gone.

**AN: **So… There's chapter 7 done for you all…. Actually, the angle that I'm working is that eventually, Yamato and his mom become amicable and she takes on a role of friend and confidant for him. Besides I need to have a character who will act as mediator later on because (spoiler alert!), as mentioned in the summary, Sora and Yamato have innumerable fights, or if you wish, artistic differences. Everyone, please read and review, remember to be kind! Suggestions and comments (as long as they're not too detrimental ;) ) are most welcome :) Well, that's all from me! Till the next chapter, as I always say, take care everyone!

~Drakky28293~


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Digimon or any of its characters!

**AN: **Wow… Can't believe that I've finally reached chapter 8! *wipes sweat off forehead* I'm sorta losing the thread of TDL… So I'm gonna put in some serious writing before I completely forget all about the events of my own life (from which this story is derived). Strangely, all this happened no less than two years ago. It's a pity that my memory is failing so badly. BUT! You folks haven't opened this page to hear me gripe about my memory like an old timer. So, let me give you people what you DO want. Which, very obviously, is the next chapter. But before that, thanks to _Aveza _and my anon guest reviewer for those bolstering reviews! :) Enjoy!

**THE DIVIDING LINE**

**CHAPTER VIII**

**-Sora's P.O.V.-**

"Girls, yesterday, while taking my beauty bath, I was just pondering," Meems was saying as we walked into class. I turned to her, wondering where this statement had sprung from. Talk about ditzy.

"So, how do you apply shampoo Sor?" she asked me as we took our seats.

Was she kidding me? I looked to see Miyoko struggling not to giggle and Ramona playing along with Mimi and looking at me inquisitively. I had to suppress the urge to snort with laughter and thought, if things are as bad as this, might as well make the most of the situation. Like a monkey, I aped squirting a ton of shampoo in my hand and vigorously rubbing my head.

That was the last straw for Miyoko. She collapsed at her desk, banging it wildly with her hand, positively hooting with laughter. I was inclined to join in, but I looked innocently at Mimi.

"Thirty years later, Sora Takenouchi, when you are practically bald, you will remember that you can't just abuse your hair like that. You must ALWAYS lightly massage your scalp like this," she said, pausing only to say "Observe and laugh later Miyoko. Your follicles will thank me some day" She mimed gently rubbing her scalp and I exchanged a wide smile and a discreet high five with Miyoko below our desks.

That was when I noticed the slip of paper with a single line written on it on my desk

WHAT. Is happening? :O

I turned to see Blondie looking at my friend with open surprise on his face. I gave him a smirk and replied

(AN: Ok, from now on, sentences in italics are Sora's and the underlined ones are Yamato's)

_Meems is showing me how to rescue my hair follicles. She claims that when I am bald 30 years later, I'll regret the abuse I inflicted on my hair_

I'll say! I can evidence of the abuse right in front of my eyes! Why were you tempted to choose THAT colour? Fond of fire now, are we? ;)

_Shut it Ishida. This here is my natural hair colour. I was born with it_

Get out of town!

_Is true. Wanna clarify from Meems?_

Ha ha. You're funny Red. Real funny

_;) I'd like to think of it that way myself. Now lemme focus on these here Trig sums Blondie. If I can't comprehend this shit later, you'll be the one tutoring me!_

Ishida, over and out *kn kn*

_Dafuq is 'kn kn'? _

Knuckle knock

_:) kn kn buddy_

Progress? I'd like to think so.

I was just penning down whatever the teacher had scribbled on the board, when suddenly, out of the corner of my eye I saw Tai scribble something on a chit and then lob it across. I watched, with some dread, as it missed my seat entirely and landed exactly on Mimi's binder.

I looked at the boys just in time to see Yamato give TaiChi a 'you-are-so-dead-mister' kind of smirk. I looked back in time to see Mimi open the chit. A second later, the smoothened paper was placed on my text with an additional Post-It from Meems. "I believe this is yours, Sor" was written on it

I read off the piece of paper. _Soccer tryouts today Takenouchi. Pray for me!_

I took a look at him and aimed a discreet thumbs up at him. Both he and Blondie grinned widely. Mimi was giving the lecture her single minded attention. It was impossible to know what was running through her head. I shrugged and resumed writing, knowing I'd have to face the infamous Tachikawa temper soon enough.

To my surprise, Meems did not mention that ill aimed note missile all day. Sign of progress at another front as well? Please let it be so! I was tired of being mediator between them. And I was tired of being frosted out by Meems.

After school was over, as we approached the school gates, I saw the two guys together. I was just going to breeze by and smile at them, when to my utter shock, Mimi stopped near them. I thought of being the coward in the equation, covering my ears and running to safety, but then I decided to stick it out. I might be needed to pull her off the guys if things got too far.

I guess the day has to be marked as 'Red Letter' or something. Meems was warming to my new friends from Kyoto! She was exchanging pleasantries with Yamato and TaiChi! I went up to them and did the same and bumped my fist with the blonde's.

"So, you're TaiChi right?" she was asking

"Yup," he replied, still looking a bit worried. "Look, I'm really sorry that…" he began

"How was your thing?" she cut in suddenly

Tai's eyes bugged out comically and Yamato and I snorted. "Th… Thing?" he spurted. "My thing is fine I assure you, lady! Why is any concern to you?"

"Eew! Not that 'thing'! Your thing this afternoon! The soccer tryouts!" she said, with a sidelong wink to me.

"Oh!" he exclaimed, looking profoundly relieved and then began doing a weird victory dance. "I got in baby!"

"Congrats Tai!" I said and fist bumped him as well.

"Congratulations," Meems said formally and shook his hand but the smile on her face was 100% genuine.

"So Yamato, any chance that I'll catch you in Hang Out this evening?" I asked him

"Maybe," he said, suddenly looking very sour. What had happened suddenly?

"Alrighty then," I pretended not to notice as I linked fingers with Meems. "I want a treat pal," I warned TaiChi and we left Heisho.

-X-

**-Yamato's P.O.V.-**

Something felt off. I was majorly pissed off for some reason that even I hadn't figured out yet. I turned to Tai and saw the maniacal grin on his face and for a moment there, the urge to knock his pretty jaw out of joint was overwhelming.

He didn't seem to notice my preoccupation. "Hey Matt!" he said. "Mimi actually spoke to me! And it even seemed like she made a joke! Am I on a roll or what?"

"Yes Yagami, you two will have beautiful babies together," I remarked dryly.

He punched my shoulder. "It is nothing like that. A girl like that just doesn't go for me. I'm just glad she isn't looking at me with angry eyes anymore. What was up with her earlier?" he wondered aloud.

"Oh so Mimi isn't gonna go for you. So you're gonna turn to Sora now is it?" I said.

"What? Have you lost your brains? Spent too much time out in the sun lately Blondie?" he suddenly looked as pissed as me.

"That paper of yours was never meant to land on Mimi's table! You aimed for Sora didn't you?"

"Oh I'm so sorry Matt!" he retorted angrily. "I hadn't realized that only you had the exclusive privilege of chatting with her in class! What is up with you? And not that I do, but what is your problem if I had my eye on Sora anyway? You wanted to have nothing to do with her!"

"Go on Bush! You have your eye on a gorgeous girl, go ahead! Put on the moves! Date her! Do what you want! Treat her like a prime piece of meat!" I was rambling. I think I shoved Tai because an instant later we were at grabbing each others' collars, faces just inches away.

The flinty look faded from Tai's eyes first. "Damn it Ishida. Will you snap outta it? What has possessed you?"

I let go of him, turned away and viciously kicked the school gate. It didn't help matters. "I don't know Tai. I don't know. I don't wanna be here having this discussion. I'm going home ok?"

"Go then!" he yelled behind me. My thoughts were churning.

_Later, in Yamato's house _–

Argh! The stupid phone was buzzing constantly. Texts and missed calls from both TaiChi and Sora. I didn't want to talk to either of them. I had been brooding with my guitar all evening and now it was well past 9 p.m. Dad had gotten late at work again.

Finally I got up and fetched myself a soda and rationed it all out. It was all that stupid red head's fault anyway. My only problem was the fact that I had ever tried to be friends with her. She made me feel unsettled. All I know is that if she was around and about, I no longer felt rational about stuff. I hurt my best friend. And I owed it all to _her_.

Only solution? Stop talking to her.

**A.N.** - You smarty pants must have figured out the trigger by now! No? Reread! It's a pretty lame reason and also kinda obvious. I told you Yama brings out many fights right in the beginning itself. Here's the first of many! Alrighty then, that's my cue to get off and yours to go write a nice review. And oh, for those who are still in the dark, things will clear up in the next chappie. Don't fret, and as always, take care!

~Drakky28293


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Digimon or any of its characters!

**A.N. –** Thank you _Aveza _for reviewing! I do not mind at all that your reviews are long and winding, it just makes me feel all the more happier that you chose to spend that much time describing in detail the parts that you liked and the bits that you didn't. :)

Here's the next chapter for you allOK, no more delays, lets clear the air!

**THE DIVIDING LINE**

**CHAPTER IX**

**-Yamato's P.O.V.-**

So much so for deciding that I wouldn't be making any contact with this girl. She is relentless! What was I supposed to do to get her off my back? I ignored all her attempts to contact me but it hadn't deterred her a bit! She was asking why I never made it to Hang Out today. Yeah, right, like I was gonna go in and face her and Tai and having that stupid blabber mouthed brunette tell her in front of me that we had an argument about her after school today and that I called her a prime piece of meat. Somehow, I didn't see that going down too well with her.

I felt stiff and bored to death. Casting my mind around for something to do, I logged into my email. First I made myself go offline so that no one would bother me. Then I started surfing.

An hour of surfing through sports news later, I returned to my email inbox to see that my mom was online. For nothing better to do, I decided to chat with her. I did promise to give her a chance.

(A.N.- same goes guys, italics is Yamato's mom and underlined is him)

Hey mom!

_Sweetheart! What a surprise! How was school!_

Going just fine

_Have you had food yet?_

Mom!

_Alright, alright. Where's your father?_

Had to work late today. Again. How's TK holding up?

_He's fine sweetie. He misses Kari_

I was surprised to hear that. I oughta remember to pass that on to Tai. Then I remembered our argument cursed. I was idly tapping keys and wondering what to say next

_Yamato?_

Still here mom

_Something is wrong isn't it?_

No.

_You can tell me you know_

There is absolutely nothing to tell mom! Get off my back!

_Well, I know for one, that you must be having better things to do than to be chatting with your recently estranged mother online. Yet, here you are, chatting with your recently estranged mother online. Isn't Tai around?_

Argh! Why was my mom making this so hard! I could've taken the easy way out. I could've just walked away from the computer. It's not like my mom could forcibly coerce me to spill my guts. There was the wide chasm of the internet separating us. But I had to get all this out.

Not that anything is wrong. This is just a hypothetical situation ok?

_Go ahead hon._

Hypothetically, there's just this guy who seems to have had a hypothetical fall out with all possible friendly faces and hence has nothing better to do hypothetically than to chat with his recently estranged mother.

_And what has led to this hypothetical fallout?_

Hypothetically… He's working that one out for himself.

_Sound off your hypotheses off me. It helps when you have a sounding board._

So. Things seemed fine in school this morning. And then suddenly, all I remember is being really angry with Tai.

_Think sweetie, there must have been some kinda trigger._

Staring at the computer screen, it was all I could think to myself. Just think Ishida! There must have been some kind of trigger. And then it hit me. I was off and running.

-x-

"You know how I often introduce you as my best buddy?" asked Tai with some fire in his eyes still.

"Yeah," I muttered, wondering where he was going with all that.

"No matter what shit you pull on me, it isn't gonna change one shot, Ishida," he said, with a mock punch to my jaw for good measure.

We were inside Hang Out. It was way past closing time. I had texted Tai that I needed to speak to him in private and so he had told me to meet him there and he got along his keys. We were sitting in a shadowed booth and drinking coffee.

"Look, I don't know what came over me today, but let me get it all at once," I said. "One, I am sorry about the whole Sora and Mimi thing. I'm a free agent, she's a free agent, you're a free agent and you can date whomever you like. I give you my blessings to date Sora Takenouchi. Two, I'm also sorry about our argument. Right now I'm finding it kinda hard to remember why we fought, so it probably wasn't that big a deal anyway. Maybe I had too much on my mind and I blew it all off on you."

Tai's face was half obscured in the dark but I could still see the wide grin that split across it, "Your blessing? Really? Thanks but no thanks Matt. She's a lovely girl and all, but I just cannot see that between the two of us. And you are all forgiven, even before you could apologize."

Before I could say anything, his face became more serious and his voice more gentle, "You gotta give me some credit man. I can see how your parents' divorce is taking its toll on you. Everyone has their share of bad days. You're getting more than your fair share, and its ok with me"

"Right. The divorce." I muttered. Yet, I felt inexplicably light when Tai had said that he didn't have his eye on Sora.

"Matt, we need to get our asses outta here and lock up," Tai said, through a huge yawn.

"Yeah sure. Thanks a ton man," I said. I helped him lock up and then we walked away together. Before we parted ways for our houses, I remembered. "Hey Tai!"

"Yeah"

"My mom says, TK misses Kari a lot"

Even if he was surprised at how I knew what my mom had said, Tai didn't show it. "Yeah, she misses him too," was all he said. "Night Blondie"

I ruffled up his 'fro. "Night Tai"

One down, one to go

**-Sora's P.O.V.-**

Well, excuse me now? Had I ever said the word "progress" this morning? I'd like to retract that. This boy was like a bloody recovering alcoholic! Two steps forward and one step back! Some progress this was!

Honestly, I couldn't even see for myself where things had begun to go wrong! We were fine at school, and even after! What had happened in that short while, that he was no longer replying to my texts?

Ok, Takenouchi. Ok. We are getting way ahead of ourselves. His phone might be out of reach. Or maybe he doesn't have the credit in his account to reply. There could be a hundred possibilities couldn't there? But a few of them also were that he wanted to have nothing to do with me.

I didn't understand why this matter felt so important to me. It's not like I had anything to prove to Meems now. She had decided to forgive them and give them another chance. I'm sure she could handle the road from here on. Mimi Tachikawa knew far better ways of befriending boys. Case in point, the charming flirt conversation she and TaiChi had engaged in while we were at Hang Out today. She had given the boy attention enough to avoid her cheerleading groupies! Now that was a feat in itself. Even after I had long collected my root beer and sandwiches and had gone and sat with Miyoko and Ramona at our table, she continued to sit on the rotating bar stools and talk to the bush head.

Getting back to my point, Meems no longer needed the physical proof that Yamato Ishida was a ruthless womanizer. So why did it feel so damn important that I keep talking to him?

It's not like I lacked male friends. Funny, intelligent, male friends. I had plenty of soccer buddies. But there was something about the blonde.

Even though I'd barely begun talking to him, my day felt pointless without the chance to talk to him. I resigned myself to the fact that I had probably done something obscure and pissed him off and that's why he was ignoring me. Oh well, I'd have to work that out later. It was late and about time that I turned in.

I was almost asleep when my phone buzzed. I was ready to fling it at the wall for driving away my sleep (which I knew would be hard to regain) but then I saw the sender's name. Yamato. I opened the text.

You cannot 'kn kn' anybody and everybody. Not even Tai. And I'd rather you didn't reply. Night Red.

So THAT was his problem. Must've really bruised his ego to actually provide me with an answer as to what I did wrong. I was torn between amusement and annoyance. Amusement at the serious tone of his message. Annoyance at the fact that he wasted an entire evening fuming over one small gesture that I vaguely remembered doing. I decided to put it aside. People have their small quirks. Maybe his was blowing ridiculously small things out of proportion.

Just as my head hit the pillow, I heard the damn buzz again. "COME ON!" I said through gritted teeth. Well, whaddya know? Yamato Ishida again! Well, well, well. Aren't we all chatty all of a sudden. So convenient that he felt like opening up at an hour when decent human beings slept.

You can date whoever you want you know. Even Tai

What? Where had that even popped out of?

_Look Blondie, you made it clear that you'd rather I don't reply, but I gotta ask ya. Where do you even get that? Who made YOU my relationship godmother? And why would I want to date Tai?_

I'm just saying. Night Red.

I guess I wasn't gonna get any more out of His Eloquent Highness. Puzzling at the mystery that was Yamato Ishida, I turned off my bedside light and went to sleep

**A.N. – **And there you have it folks, chapter 9 all ready and done! Please R&R so that I know what you folks think. And I hope that all you MiChi fans caught the little hint back there! Anyway, until the next chapter, take care!

~Drakky28293


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